The invention relates to a connection system comprising an external cable guide on wiper motor housings, as can be used, in particular, for making contact between control contacts and wiper motors in vehicles.
An established way of using electric motors as drives of wiper systems is embedding an electric motor in a complex assembly, called motor assembly in the text which follows, which, in addition to the actual motor, comprises gear mechanism components, housing parts, fixing means and electrical connection means. In this case, the electrical connection means are frequently arranged in the immediate vicinity of the motor parts with which contact is to be made, in order to be able to realize short conduction paths. An important constituent part of these electrical connection means, by means of which power is supplied to the electric motor during the operating phases, are so-called carbon brushes which are arranged in a brush holder. The brush holder is generally connected to a plugging slot which can be connected to a connection plug, this guaranteeing quick and easy connection of the motor assembly during installation.
In the interests of simplified connection, the connection plugs used are frequently designed such that the motor assembly is fully ready for operation when said connection plugs are connected. Consequently, components with which contact is to be made and which are arranged on the motor assembly at a distance from the plugging slot on the brush holder or the connection plug have to be connected via separate feed lines which lead from the respective installation site of the components with which contact is to be made to the plugging slot on the brush holder or the connection plug, in order to ensure the ability to make an integral connection in the manner discussed above.
Components on motor assemblies which are used as wiper drives, which components are regularly used, with which contact is to be made and which are at a distance from the connection plug, are control contacts with which the position of the gear mechanism elements within the motor assembly is detected, in order to be able to correctly control the turning position and park position of a wiper system.
To this end, the control contacts are integrated in a contact holder such that their ends come into electrically conductive contact with moving parts of the gear mechanism, from which parts the precise position of the output shaft on which the wiper blade is located can be derived, or can communicate with them in some other way. In this case, the position of the control contacts is defined by correspondingly fixing the contact holder, for example in an opening in the gear mechanism housing.
Particularly in the case of arrangement of the brush holder at the end of the motor housing, a relatively large distance has to be bridged between the control contacts and the plugging slot arranged on the brush holder, this being realized, according to the prior art, by extrusion-coated metal strips which are integrated in the gear mechanism cover or by cables which run freely across the outside of the motor assembly.
The variant with metal strips running in the gear mechanism cover complicates production of the gear mechanism cover and, when changes are needed or there are defects in the contact-connection to the control contacts, always requires replacement of the entire gear mechanism cover. In addition, combination with metal housing components makes it necessary to separately insulate lines which are to be conducted further. The variant with cables which run freely across the outside of the motor assembly is associated, in particular, with the risk of damage to the cables due to operation-related shock effects or other external effects, this possibly leading to the cables being pulled off and functional faults resulting from this.